no oil after cylinder head recondition

[wendellbee]

i have an inboard merc 7.4 gen vi (it is a 2000, but I cannot find serial numbers on either engine). I had the starboard engine cylinder heads redone after a few stuck valves, from water in the oil. upon installing the new heads with all new gaskets and bolts, i am not getting any oil to the starboard cylinder head. the port cylinder head was getting oil, and the gauge is reading 60 psi which is normal for cold startup. i had help putting everything back together since the heads are heavy. I placed the new gaskets in the same orientation as the old gaskets. the only difference is the new gaskets are .039" compressed thickness and the old gaskets were .022" (performance gaskets) compressed thickness. Is there anything I need to look for that would cause this issue?

 

[jimmbo]

Oil gets up to the Rocker Arms via the Lifters and the Push Rods.
You say there was water in the Oil. Did you flush/clean out all the Oil passages before New Lifters were installed? Or did you reuse the old Lifters? Same goes for all the Push Rods?

 

[wendellbee]

The lifters were not touched. I replaced all the pushrods since a few of them in were bent.

 

[wendellbee]

To add some background - before engine was disassembled, it was running, roughly of course, and pumping oil up to the rockers. The engine sat for about 8 weeks before I could restart assembly. Should I have removed lifters and pumped them up with oil?

 

[Scott Danforth]

a 2000 motor is a gen VI as you stated. its a priority main motor. since you replaced the pushrods, did you soak them in oil first (vertically) to pre-fill them?



I will second the question on did you flush the oil passages to remove the water? if water sat long enough, it could have sludged up the lifters or the oil passages

did you use a priming tool?

it will take about 3 minutes with a priming tool to get oil thru new pushrods prior to first start.

 

[Lou C]

When I had the same problem on my 4.3 (water in the oil) I changed the oil 4 times and drained the water out of the engine each time, to get as much water out of the oil as possible, before I took it all apart. When there is water in the oil the oil gets thicker, that might have contributed to your problem...since you installed new pushrods, the lifters could be sludged up...

 

[wendellbee]

I did place the new pushrods in oil overnight. i changed the oil 2 times before taking everything apart. When I started the engine It ran for about a minute and I shut it down. I didn't want to run it any longer the way it sounded. i did not use a priming tool. I plan on doing that this weekend. thanks for letting me know it takes a while to get the oil flowing. If that doesn't do it, I'll be taking the intake manifold off to look at the lifters

 

[jimmbo]

Take the Lifters out and then run the Priming Tool/Pump, that will verify Oil is getting to the first Lifter on the Side, and allows you to clean out any guck between the Lifters. As for the Lifters, I would either replace them, or take them apart and clean them to get all the water out of them

 

[Lou C]

When you have water in the oil you get that thick mayo like emulsion that can cause problems like that, even in engines that were maintained before the water in the oil incident.

 

[Lou C]

Hydraulic lifters need clean motor oil to function properly....

 

[wendellbee]

I checked the lifters over the weekend. I could visually see 2 had what looked like sludge on the top of them. The others did not have any spring to them when i tried to depress the pushrod. i'm going to install all new Lifters, as opposed to trying to clean them, after, after i change the oil 1 more time .

I see the Ac Delco - HL121 and GM - 17120060
are compatible with my engine. Hopefully the old ones won't be too difficult coming out.
Appreciate the info you all provided.

 

[jimmbo]

While you have the Lifters out, flush the Oil System with the primer. Make sure the Passages between the Lifters are clear of that sludge too. Soak the New Lifters Vertically in Oil overnight.
Even when you drain the Oil from the Pan, there can still be Sludge all over the bottom of the Engine, and Pan. Once the Engine is running again, I would suggest getting it up to running temp and under load for a couple of Hours to dry up all remaining water. A few more Oil Flushes prior to that though won't hurt. You can certainly just use Dinosaur Oil for that, instead of Synthetic, Don't forget to replace the Filter often, if it plugs up because of any water, the Bypass opens and sends unfiltered oil through the engine

 

[Grub54891]

I've had good luck with using sea foam to help flush out the block. Add a half a can and run it for 10-15 minutes, Drain and do it a second time. I use the cheapest oil I can find for flushing. Then put in your normal oil.

 

[ESGWheel]

i'm going to install all new Lifters, as opposed to trying to clean them, after, after i change the oil 1 more time.

Just a word of caution and perhaps this is old school thinking and not relevant but when replacing only lifters and not the cam, need to be cognizant of cam wear > a new lifter can tear up a worn cam lobe. Also break in oils and process come into play.

 

[Lou C]

That's definitely true with a flat tappet cam, I think but am not 100% sure that you can use different lifters with the same cam if you have a roller lifter camshaft....

 

[jimmbo]

The Roller Lifter and Cam, really changed that... However, replacing a Brand A, Lifter, with a Brand X Lifter, may complicate it.
If the Motor was out of the Boat... Myself, I would tear it all apart, and replace the Bearings, the Timing Chain and Sprockets, and the Cam and Bearings, and the Lifters, and maybe even the Rocker Arms.
However it is not mine.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Just a word of caution and perhaps this is old school thinking and not relevant but when replacing only lifters and not the cam, need to be cognizant of cam wear > a new lifter can tear up a worn cam lobe. Also break in oils and process come into play.

Not with a Gen VI roller

 

[ESGWheel]

Not with a Gen VI roller

Not trying to get off topic but rather to learn: do most (all?) marinized GM motors use roller lifters? Perhaps that there was a cutover time frame or ? Thanks....

 

[Lou C]

4.3s got them in 87-88, the V8s I’m not sure maybe ‘96 and up?
My 88 OMC 4.3 definitely came with a roller cam.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Not trying to get off topic but rather to learn: do most (all?) marinized GM motors use roller lifters? Perhaps that there was a cutover time frame or ? Thanks....

BBC Gen VI are all rollers. (1996-2000)
BBC Gen V are sometimes rollers (1991-1995)
BBC Mark 4 are flat tappet (1965-1990)

SBC vortec are all rollers (1996-2000) and beyond
SBC 1988-1995 may be an occasional roller

Lou covered the 4.3

All LS and LT motors are rollers